Celebrating B Movies, Cult Films, and Indie Classics.

What makes Brake so good? What else? The same person that played a major role in making ‘Blade’ (1998) and ‘FeardotCom’ (2002) so great… Stephen Dorff…

Now I have to admit that I have been a great fan of Stephen Dorff’s for a fair number of years now, I mean every role he has done, rather it be the sort of over worked cop trailing a cyber killer in, ‘FeardotCom’ or even as the slightly sarcastic, but extremely arrogant up-and-coming Vampire in the first ‘Blade’ movie, Mr. Dorff brings a commanding performance to just about any role that he plays, so much so that if he plays a, ‘bad guy’ that you know the final battle is going to be totally epic, and if he is a good guy, that he captures the bad guy and gets the girl…

Brake tells the story of a Special Agent with the Secret Service by the name of Jeremy Reins (Dorff) who is kidnapped and locked in to a clear impenetrable case in the trunk of his car. His only initial sources of communication is an old CB radio, some sort of speaker phone system that is connected to the trunk, and the air hole that they gave him so that he wouldn’t die!

Now of course when Reins wakes up he is trying to figure out what the hell is going on…

At first he finds the CB radio, and finds out that ‘Henry Shaw’ (A state department worker) is in a similar predicament… That is when his captors end up putting in a post card and a light in his air hole. What is on the post card reads, ‘Give us the location of roulette’.

Now Roulette being a bunker system that was set up to protect the President, Vice President, etc… in case of attack!

As the terrorists that have kidnapped Special Agent Reins are trying to ratchet up their persuasion techniques to get Reins to tell then where Roulette is, (including causing pandemonium around D.C. and Virginia). Reins will have to make a choice between the oath he took to protect the President, and to save himself and the people that have been forced in to this situation, while trying to figure out how to save himself, the people trapped in this situation, and protect the President that he has been charged to protect!

Jeremy Reins (Dorff) as he is trying to break free from those that have him captive!

Now what I liked about this movie and what I do feel makes this a very awesome B movie is a couple of things:

1. First off I gotta give props to Timothy Mannion, I mean the story was so well crafted that I never knew for certain who it was that was the terrorists that had kidnapped Reins, until the bitter end, and I gotta say that the ending is one that blew my mind, that I never would have expected!

2. Now the next person that I gotta give props to is director Gabe Torres, I mean it had to be rather difficult to direct a guy in a car trunk, but he did an excellent job!

3, Lastly I gotta say that the performance that Stephen Dorff did in this movie was fantastic! I mean he had very little room to work, but as usual did a great job in this role! (As a side not, Mr. Dorff is credited as having executive produced this film as well.)

Comments

when i downloaded the film i fastforwarded it and all i could see was a man struggling inside the same glassy box. it did not draw my attention however from my experience with 127 hours i thought this one could be a thrilling one and it was!
i watched the ending and here is what baffles me:
the agent’s hint of the monument revealed the location, this is for sure but i’d like to know whether it was really a test that he finally failed to get through or it was part of the plan to extract the information they needed to carry out their attack? Did the agent die in the end or what?
please clarify the ending for me.
thank you

Unfortunately I can’t explain to you the ending, I don’t want to spoil it for the rest of our viewing public. But I will say that the ending was nothing I expected through the movie. I would also recommend checking the movie out again as i think that may answer your questions.

For the most part I really have to agree, I find open endings to be a great way to end a film and lead in to a potential sequel, but in the case of, ‘Brake’ I was satisfied with this ending, giving the feeling that probably, ‘no’ sequel was in the works, because this movie to me I felt was a one hit wonder…

I have to say reading some of the above comments I totally agree with. I literally was sitting at the edge of my chair wondering what was going to take place next. I enjoyed the movie until the end if the movie. I’m still clueless on what happens next, was he still training, did he fail his training because he hinted at the Washington Monument, if there a kill order on him now what happens next. I think that its crazy how his wife set him up and I would like to know was she working with rogue agents. I would like to know if there would be a second part to this film, that way the ending will make more since. The ending of this film reminds me of the ending of “SALT” which is one of my favorite movies. The ending of both films leaves me wonder what’s next since the main characters have been killed or the main purpose of the movie have completely changed.

Unfortunately I couldn’t tell you just now if there is going to be a sequel. I do agree that it would be great for sequel! Unfortunately I can’t tell you my interpretation of the ending of the movie, (I don’t want to give to much away to those who are watching it for the first time.) The only thing I am gonna say is, ‘I doubt you will be seeing Stephen Dorff in the sequel if there is one.’

What a load of crap so hes trapped in a box the like buried movie and then the whole movie takes place in it. The end turns out to be a training exercise and once hes in the ambulance he gives up a sign where the president stays in case of an attack his wife notices and tells the other agents where it is at and then the order was given to kill the main character. Well I can say this if it was a training or not 3/10 rating most likely wont see a sequel. Nathan why dont you tell you’re view of the ending? and believe me theres more than enough spoilers for those who havent seen it and another thing people who havent seen it dont know this page exist only those who want to know about the ending come here.

Well fair enough, the truth is, is that think that in the end, all of this is an extremely intricate plot to get Stephen Dorff to say the secret, as part of the beginning of more intricate plot, that I think we will probably see if there is a sequel.

First: How long had his wife been working with the rogue agents?, was she/they planning this long before she met jeremy? They were married for a long time considering their backround and all that they seemed to have gone through.

Second: should a sneak at the washington monument really give up the location of the bunker?

Third: shouldn´t jeremy at least get a little suspicious when he´s strapped up i the ambulance?

Fourth: if he´s shot!! and all banged up, shouldnt the paramedic been sitting in the back maybe? not the wife. again a heads up for jeremy.

I think this was a great movie with a great ending, to bad they had so many loose ends…
I could probably think of more things to mark but this four comes just of my head right now

It was a good movie I haven’t seen one in awhile like the good but no sense at the end. Doesn’t mattter how long his wife was a terrorist they order the mission.. then killed him.what I’m woundering is if the terrorist attacked or just killed him for giving op the location on the president?????

I have to say near the end i started thinking maybe this was a test. (Reminds me of the old Twilight Zone episode).
In the ambulance ride, I also started thinking was this an additional test to the agent because agents may fail a secondary test after the initail test has been revealed.
I did like the “open-ended” ending (were they really terrorists or was the team testing him even further),(was that gas a sedative or a poison).

I think a greater ending would have been to see how strong/successful he really was by (even though battered, bruised and his mind warped) the movie could have shown our agent staying strong mentally and tricking the team with his own double/triple con to see what their reaction would have been.(Check Mate!). Because no matter what, all an agent has is their duty/secret they were intrusted with(THATS ALL) and if that agent reveals “their hand” in anyway then the agent has failed.

Hi. First of all great cast. I loved chyler Leigh’s performance in this movie! Amazing! Anyways. What I don’t understand is the end. Did Molly Kill her husband. Is this a test? Was Molly working with the terrorist all along? I hope there is a sequel for all this to be explained!! Great movie!! But I still want to understand the ending!!

Hi, as a Writer myself, my hat goes off to Director/Screenwriter of “Brake”. Wow, what a compelling and savvy concept. Most people do not realize the complexity of developing a solid concept and the work that goes into making the execution of the screenplay into a high-powered, action-packed, and successful film such as “Brake”.

This was indeed a jaw-dropping and intense movie that literally had me on the edge-of my seat. The film works and is Successful because of the political theme portrayed here which is post 911 we as Americans need to be aware and careful as to the individuals we elect to govern our country. More importantly, it is the level of trust within our own government officials that needs to be assessed at all times.

The Director of “Brake” did an outstanding job of portraying the risk levels within the infrastructure of our own Government and the high risk factors that we are unfortunately confronted with everyday.

Therefore, the film works because it is an excellent example of how vulnerable we are to forces of terrorism and the inner corruption of our own government officials.

I do have a question for Nathan, although Stephen Dorff was the catalyst for an intricate plot to launch an attack on the President, were the calls to other Secret Service Agents such as Henry Shaw, real or part of the elaborate plot of the Director of Secret Services/Team collaborating with the terrorists for money…

Nathan, was this intricate plot utilizing the loyalty test a means for infrastructual profit or were the Secret Service Team unit family’s being threatened and attacked as well to break the code from Dorff…

As a last note the final twist of his own Wife collaborating with the Secret Service Team in Act Three is a strong reflection of powerful and frightening money and greed can be.

Therefore, given the innate corruption and hatred within many individuals Domestic or Internationally, it is not that unrealistic to see how far some people will go out of anger, greed and profit…

I do agree that Dorff’s wife in the movie collaborating with the bad guys does reflect the horrible effects of greed that people can demonstrate.. As for the purpose of being locked in the trunk, and the whole facade of the loyalty test going on. I don’t really believe any of the Secret Service Agents or their families were being attacked, nor was the loyalty test legitimate…

All of that was an elaborate plot for Dorff’s character to divulge his secret.

Since this film was such inspiration and resinated with the type of genre I love such as a high concept and low-budget action film.

Nathan as you have indicated numerous times that the fake loyalty test was a plot designed to break the code from Stephen Dorff.

You emphasize an intricate plan to launch an attack on the President once they located the underground bunker.

What is challenging me is that in your opinion, did the head of the Secret Services Team do this as an anti-american hate plot against the President and administration for making a deal with the terrorists to profit and gain control over the oil and other resources therefore putting millions of Americans lives in danger.

On the otherhand, was this intricate plot executed so that the Secret Service Division and their families could locate the underground bunker and use it as a means of hiding underground to seek shelter from the mass destruction of terrorist attacks.

Last thought here was it because by locating and launching an attack on the President by the Secret Service Team and other related designed to end government corruption and begin a new democracy or radical change that would put an end to government corruption and controlling the threatening effects on American civilians, etc…

Again, would really enjoy your input to the above questions…

I am working on a Screenplay that is in the same vein but completely unrelated to the concept…

Your time and comments are well appreciated…

I have my own creative team and this film has created new awareness and a wealth of creative ideas…

Honestly, I think that all 3 scenarios you mentioned are great ideas for plot devices, but in my opinion it is for greed, and profit… The truth is, is that generally speaking in movies or TV series, rather they are former government employees or ones that have gone, ‘rouge’, generally speaking they work against the government for profit or some form of fiscal gain (unless they have been framed, and then it is usually to clear their name.)

Thank you very much for your recent response to my most recent e-mail.

Excellent commentary regarding how former government employees can go rogue and leak out official information for greed and profit…

Since you are such an advocate for awesome b movies, you may very well find “Civic Duty”, with Peter Krauss extremely interesting.

When you have a free moment, just curious as to how Terrorists could actually contact such Rogue government employees could be contacted without being caught.

My inclination is via annonymous e-mails, networking within the inner circles of rogue employees and working with other inside employees for fallen anti-american government employees…

Post 9/11 you one would think that our government would have solid anti-terrorist security measures in place as a means of counter-acting such corrupt and threatening collaborations for mere greed and profit…

Again, thank you for taking the time to address my question, it is always interesting to hear your point of view…

You’re very welcome! I am glad to help out a fellow writer when I can! :)

As for your movie recommendation, I will definitely check it out, ‘I am a huge fan of Peter Krause’s work!’

To answer your other question… Sure that could be one way to go… (the only problem with that is that it assumes that there is an intricate network funneling
‘rouge’ Agents in to a life of crime… Although feasible, it’s not very believable… (I mean for anyone to play the role of a, ‘rouge’ Agent), one would have to assume that the Agent at one point was clean, and is in what ever Agency for a reason.) If this were my script, I would write in such a way where the Agent is confronted with the possibility of corruption (i,e… he lets a mafia lieutenant go after being paid enough money to get his child the treatment they need) but has to decide to stay on the straight road, or go crooked (it’s fascinating and compelling dynamic to your corrupt Agent character, and is great character development as well).

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The producers keep you locked in a claustrophobic box for the entire movie, listening to crying, screaming, cursing, and all kinds of nonsense. The first shootout with police of course has the police killed because the terrorists “are so great” at evading and killing everyone. Then police chasing and bumping the car get knocked off. Then we have to watch this agent almost get killed, then they call this an exercise. What a bunch of bullshit, what a waste of time. The people that made this movie are assholes!

Unfortunately it does seem like most people were not huge fans of the ending for this movie… I found the ending to be pretty subjective, it could be viewed from a number of different angles as to what happened…